Thursday, July 11, 2013

I had the privilege to see an advance screening of the paranormal themed movie "The Conjuring". To be honest I was a bit trepadicious about this as paranormal movies of late haven't impressed me (I'm still bitter about how much The Last Exorcism sucked and did we really need a sequel?) but given the fact that this movie was based upon a well known case by famed paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren gave me a bit of hope. Still ever the skeptic I went in not knowing what to expect.

I won't give away many plot details, but it involves a family moving into a new house in the country (always seems to be the case right?) and the ensuing paranormal activity they encounter. Finally they enlist the help from Ed and Lorraine Warren to try to determine what's going on and to try to help the family.

I really enjoyed the movie and it follows the story pretty closely (it's dramatic in some parts but hey it's a movie, it's supposed to be like that). Both Patrick Wilson (loved him in Watchmen) and Vera Farmiga were great casting decisions as Ed and Lorraine. The director and cinematographer did a great job setting the mood for the story. Honestly the way it was shot reminded me a bit of The Exorcist, it had that grainy realistic feel to it. Pacing was good and I just have to say to the studio a big thank you for not putting all the scary parts in the trailer and actually leaving most of them out and this lead to the audience jumping several times at unexpected moments.

What I really liked was that it showed how intense a demonic possession can be. It seems like most TV shows throw around the term demon like its common place or something and that anyone with a bible and a vial of holy water can cast out. This is far from the truth. For anyone who does go see this, try to keep that in mind. I know I'm preaching, but this is one of my biggest pet peeves in the paranormal community of people labeling themselves "demonologists" because it sounds cool. Trust me it's not.

Overall I really enjoyed the film and will definitely go see it again when it comes out. It's hard to say what my favorite part is, but I loved how they discussed briefly the Annabelle case (a demonic possession involving a haunted doll) and they even hinted at Amityville at the end. Remember this is a movie based on a true story so they took some liberties with it. But it's a good movie and I would definitely recommend it.